The Night Remains
by ShadowStalker182
Summary: After the shocking events of the 74th Hunger Games, whispers of rebellion spread and tensions run high as Panem prepares for the 3rd Quarter Quell. Meanwhile Sapphire discovers even more disturbing truths and is forced to question everything and everyone as she puts together the pieces of her Capital-altered memories and prepares to play her role. Sequel to Hurricane Aphroditey.


**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs**

 **Chapter 1: Something's not right**

 _Liam quirked an eyebrow at her, "I thought you said that you'd meet me back at the Cornucopia?" he questioned as she plopped onto her back beside him._

" _Yeah, well my conscious hates me," she replied bitterly as she plucked at the grass.  
_

" _Why do you say that?" Liam asked in amused curiosity as she sighed.  
~~_

" _What the hell were you thinking? No-that's right, you weren't thinking!" Liam reprimanded her with a tone of barely controlled frustration. They were stopped in a smaller clearing to take a breather. Liam was giving Sapphire the irresponsibility speech in the meantime._

 _Sapphire scowled at her brother, "I had it under control. You didn't have to interfere." Her tone was laced with frustration as he gave her a condescending smirk._

" _You wanna know your problem Sapphire?! You're too damn naive and stubborn for your own good. You take everything for granted; you're arrogant, and you're spoiled. But guess what Sapphire, the world doesn't revolve around you anymore. This is the bloody Hunger Games!" Liam's tone was raised into a yell with passionate fury as he ran his hands through his unruly hair.  
~~_

" _Sh! I know Lee. Don't speak," she soothed in her calmest tone that she could muster, while her body shook._

 _Liam's body gave a violent jolt as he coughed up a stream of blood. He turned his pained eyes onto his sister's as he cupped her face. "Sapphire,-"-cough- "-I-I love-" -cough- "-you-" -cough-cough-cough- "Hurricane Aphroditey," he gasped out between labored coughs, before his eyes grew clouded and his hand dropped from her face._

* * *

Sapphire's eyes snapped open, throwing herself into an upright position as she swallowed back the cry that threatened to tear out of her throat. Her mind reeling at the blurred flashbacks from her final days in the arena with her brother. The 17-year-old didn't bother with pulling on a robe as she got off her bed and padded barefoot into her spacious living-room. She didn't care if the Capital was monitoring her every movement. To tell the truth, there wasn't a lot that she actually _did_ care about anymore.

Two weeks. Just two weeks ago had seen Sapphire, Cato, Katniss, and Peeta being crowned Victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games. The week before, Sapphire had still been unconscious from the grisly aftermath of the end of the Games. To say that the experience in the Games had changed the girl of two Districts, would be an understatement, although not all for the worst. If anything they had inadvertently shown her the cracks in the Capital's system, and all but cemented her upcoming role in the rising rebellion.

There was only one thing that the emerald-eyed female had not expected to happen, and that was the magnetic chemistry that had formed between her and Cato. The charismatic male from 2 was an enigma to her; she could barely stand him but felt a certain hollowness without him. His presence both soothed her and set her on edge; bringing a sense of familiarity to her otherwise shaken world. If she was being honest with herself, Sapphire didn't really know what she felt for Cato, other than the fact that she had strong feelings for him, but it wasn't quite love.

Sapphire scoffed to herself as she finger-combed her wavy locks into submission, "At least I know that my ability to talk myself into corners is still intact." She muttered to herself before glancing up as she was joined by her sister, Amethyst.

"And they say I'm mad," the 21-year-old Victor teased with a soft tone as she carefully eased herself into the seat beside her sister. Sapphire rolled her eyes at the auburn-haired female before leaning against her in a show of camaraderie and purposefully locking their matching emerald eyes.

"We're all mad here, Ames. We're Nights remember?" Sapphire remarked offhandedly before grinning, "But, I'm pretty sure Finnick is the maddest of them all... Isn't that right Nick!" she raised her voice a bit as she looked over her sister's shoulder at the silent male Victor before beaming at the giggle she managed to incite out of her usually melancholy sister. She considered it a small victory every time she managed to evoke positive reactions out of her elder sister. Amethyst wasn't the same since her victory in the 70th Hunger Games; she had withdrawn deep into herself and was prone to manic episodes, so much so that she had been labeled 'mad' by the citizens of Panem, but Sapphire knew that she wasn't.

Only the people who had lived through the hell that is known as the Hunger Games, would ever have a clue as to the horrors that plagued her sister. Adding insult to injury, their family had been singled out by the Capital since the union of their late parents, Holly & Jared, the Victors of their own respective Games.

* * *

Finnick pursed his lips in mock annoyance with Sapphire before winking at Amethyst, causing a blush to form on her pretty face. The 17-year-old resisted the urge to pull a face at the two Victors' display, getting up from the couch with an exaggerated sigh, and heading towards the kitchen, "If you two keep making googly eyes at each other, I might just kick you out of my house."

The handsome 24-year-old smirked at Sapphire as he closed the distance between himself and the girls, placing a kiss on Amethyst's cheek without taking his laughing sea-green eyes off of her sister. A serene expression formed on the oldest Night sister's face as she leant back into Finnick's chest, she too having her gaze fixed on the youngest Victor.

"I'm actually surprised to see you up already, Angel. I knew Amy would be up, but you're never up this early," Finnick pointed out while he moved around the couch to stand beside the auburn-haired sister who sighed in contentment before leaning up to whisper in his ear. Sapphire glanced over at her sister and future in-law with a softened expression as she saw the gentle way Finnick whispered to Amethyst and the adoring expression in his usually guarded eyes. She felt a pang in her chest at the display and was quick to stomp it out as she got back to her task at hand.

* * *

As the emerald-eyed teenager turned away, she missed the knowing looks exchanged by the other two Victors as they watched her covertly. Her normally withdrawn sister had pain in her matching emerald eyes as she turned to speak with the only male she trusted.

"Finn, I'm-I'm worried about her. She's having nightmares just like me," Amethyst pointed out softly as she turned back to stare after her younger sister with worry. Finnick trained his gaze onto the female and nodded in understanding, kissing her head and giving her hand a squeeze before heading after Sapphire.

* * *

"How are you holding up, Angel?" the voice of her former Mentor questioned from the entryway of her kitchen.

"Amy's making more and more progress. She even teased me earlier!" Sapphire deflected the question as she opened the fridge to scan the contents before closing it in disinterest and moved to the coffeemaker; all the while avoiding direct eye contact with her pseudo-brother.

"You're deflecting. What's going on Angel? Amy is worried and frankly I am too."

Sapphire bit her lip and turned so her back was to him as she messed with the machine before her. She knew what he was getting at, but she wasn't about to open that can of worms. "She's not supposed to worry. I've got it sorted." her defense sounded weak even to her own ears as she felt Finnick coming up behind her.

"Of course she's going to worry, Saps. You're her baby sister; it's kind of a given," Finnick mused as he turned the shorter brunette around in his arms to meet his gaze. "Talk to me. You've never been a good liar and you've got an even worse 'poker face'. So spill." His tone dripped with condescension as he took hold of Sapphire's shoulders and held her at arm's length.

"No, I'm a brilliant liar and I have an impressive poker face. I was raised around you, so you have the familial advantage," Sapphire sassed back with a bit of attitude as she finally met his gaze defiantly with her own. Finnick raised his eyebrows with a mischievous spark in his sea-green eyes before shaking his head and ruffling her hair.

"Nice try, sweetheart. Talk to me."

Sapphire smacked his hand away from her hair and moved towards the island counter, where she hoisted herself up onto its surface. Her expression shuttered as she pulled her knee up into her chest, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming conversation. Finnick watched her calmly as he leant against the opposite counter.

"I _see_ them. Every time I close my eyes I'm _back_ in the arena. I can remember _every_ detail, _every_ conversation, and _every_ second of the time _before the explosion_ , but everything else is so _choppy!_ I get little snippets of memory from some of my conversations that I _must have had_ with _him_ , but I don't even remember what they were about. Did we have a fight?-I just can't seem to put any pieces together. _Hell_ , I don't even know _how_ I got so f***ed up that I had to be taken care of by _Cato,_ much less how I ended up holding _my brother_ as he _breathed his last f***ing breath_!" she paused for a breathe as she angrily swiped at the tears that had started to fall from her emerald eyes.

"What's _wrong_ with me, Nick? Why do I feel like I'm _missing something_? Why am I even here? It was _supposed to be him_! How is it that _four Victors_ emerged from the Hunger Games, _and not one of them was him_? I don't even remember _what killed him or how he died_! Did we separate? Were we ambushed? And why the hell was he _apologizing_ to me? _What happened to us_?"

Finnick was quick to pull the hyperventilating teenager into his arms as she dissolved into body shaking silent sobs of frustration and pain. The handsome 24-year-old stroked her hair and back calmingly as he whispered silent assurances into her hair. His eyes were fixed resolutely on the wall behind Sapphire as he worked to bury his mounting hatred for the Capital and comfort the the near hysterical female in his arms. They were going to drive her mad at the rate that she was going. He mentally cursed President Snow to the depths of Hell for what he did to Sapphire's family and now the added emotional trauma that the teenager was dealing with.

The Victor made a silent promise to himself and the Capital; he would make them pay for playing with Sapphire's sanity and all the other lives that they had ruined, but for now his top priority was the young woman in his arms. He kissed her head and lifted her off of the counter, "Come on Angel, let's get you something to eat before Amy chews my head off for not taking care of her baby sister."

Sapphire chuckled weakly at the mere thought of her sweet-tempered sister chewing Finnick out for anything. "More like, _you're hungry_ and _I'm your excuse to eat_ ," She muttered knowingly with a dry expression on her pale face as she pulled her face away from his chest. He gave her a sly grin in response as he set her feet back on the floor, emphasising their height difference.

"You _insult_ me! Here _I thought_ we were having a moment."

"Sure you did. Come on, I'll heat up some of Amy's homemade quiche from yesterday. Wouldn't want Panem's _most eligible bachelor_ to fade away into nothing, now would we?"

Finnick chuckled at Sapphire's dry remark, marveling at her ability to switch emotions on the dime. The Games might've changed her, but she was still the same sarcastic and witty girl that he had watched grow up.

"This is why I like _Amy more than you_! _She's_ not a sarcastic little nuisance like _you are_!"

Sapphire laughed outright at that as she flounced out of the kitchen and returned with a laughing Amethyst. "That's fine, cause _Amy loves me more than you_. Don't you Ames?"

The auburn-haired female was almost in tears for the laughter that rolled out of her, but she managed to nod her head in earnest agreement with her sister, causing an even bigger grin to spread on Sapphire's face at the look on Finnick's face. The male looked positively comical as a mock wounded expression formed on his face. Sapphire high-fived her sister in victory before pulling a face at her future brother-in-law and ditching the two lovebirds in favor of getting dressed.

Finnick sat on the porch of the sisters' house, watching as Amethyst tended to her flower garden with a serene expression on her face. He smiled genuinely at her contented smile as he held the phone to his ear, waiting for the other Victors to pick up, before his eyes trailed off of Amy and onto the distant form of Sapphire running along the beach.

There was a gruff 'hello' from the phone's receiver that had the smile turning into a sly smirk on the handsome Victor's face as he responded. "Don't act so happy to hear from me, 'Mitch. We need to talk."

 **Hello, I hope you enjoyed the brief taste of what is to be the last and final sequel to Hurricane Aphroditey! If you are a returning reader, welcome back! If you are new, I hope you are able to check out my prequal for any questions that you might have concerning the happenings of this timeline.  
Some simple housekeeping:  
~This is a sequel to an already completed work by the name of Hurricane Aphroditey; so if you are having a hard time following along with the concept of this story I would advise you to read its predecessor first.  
~The 74th Hunger Games has just been completed and there were four Victors.  
~This work will follow the aftermath of the recently ended Hunger Games all the way through to Mockingjay.  
~Amethyst Night is the replacement/stand-in for Annie Cresta in this fic.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this and would love to hear from you in a Review or PM on what you think!  
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you stick around for the next installment.  
Happy early Thanksgiving!  
~ShadowStalker182**


End file.
